Why Snowpiercer Was Canceled

In May 2020, six years after the release of Bong Joon-Ho's sci-fi flick "Snowpiercer," TNT continued the story of these train riders in a series of the same name. Despite its early warm reception from critics and fans alike, the show won't be continuing past its third season — at least not on its original network. 

Warner Bros. Discovery announced in January 2023 that it pulled "Snowpiercer" from the TNT lineup, even though its fourth and final season had already completed production. According to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, this cut was for studio tax write-off purposes after the industry "went overboard and went on a spending frenzy." He added that, for some time, the industry's goal was to produce more content, but not necessarily the right content. In WBD's opinion, this had to change.

A TNT spokesperson said in a statement, "This was a difficult decision... We have been working collaboratively with the producers since last year to help the series find a new home where fans can continue to enjoy the compelling story and exceptional visual experience. We look forward to working with them on future projects."

The relationship between TNT and "Snowpiercer" wasn't easy from the beginning. Not only did the network try (and fail) to have it instead air on TBS, but it also parted ways with showrunner Josh Friedman over creative differences before the series even premiered. Additionally, viewership has steadily decreased over the past three years. Season 1 saw an impressive 3.3 million tune in for the series premiere, and 3.2 million for the finale. The average number of viewers throughout Season 2 was a little over 900,000 and for Season 3, viewership was around 611,000. 

Therefore, it's not entirely surprising that "Snowpiercer" was one of several projects to get the axe. Other tax write-off cuts included TBS' "The Big D" and "Chad," HBO's "Demimonde" and HBO Max's "Batgirl," the ladder of which was, like "Snowpiercer," already complete. DC co-chairman and CEO Peter Safran said at the time, "I saw the movie. There are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera in that film, but that was not releasable. It happens sometimes."

Warner Bros. Discovery is working to produce content that's sure to resonate with the masses, though time will tell if they're able to achieve that goal. As for "Snowpiercer," at the time of this writing, its creative team is still hoping to air Season 4 on another platform.